Why does it take a train alot of tries to pick up or deliver something?

Question

explain i live across from a factory that has deliveries from the train and every single time it has a delivery or pickup the train will go forward an backup what seems like a thousand times it is very annoying i dont get it when i could understand like a big rig but its on tracks why?

Answer 1

A goods train that has to call at several stations on the way to pick up and put off wagons has to shunt, that is, uncouple the wagons from the train to be put off, shunt into siding, pick up wagons to be collected, shunt onto train.

This involves several manoeuvres with the engine going forward and then reversing slowly while the guard changes the points, couples and uncouples the wagons, etc.

It's part of the skill of the train crews to get this done with the minimum of movements, thus saving time, fuel, wear and tear, etc.

Answer 2

In the US that is called "flat switching."

Suppose you have a train that is 30 cars long and the factory needs to have the 5th, 11th, 15th and 21st car, forward and back once to leave the 21st car, forward and back again to get to the 15th car, back and forth again for the 11th, and so on.

Most US railroads run with traffic "blocked," that is, the cars for a specific destination (shipper) are already together, so the train will only make one back and forth maneuver to set out the cars.

Of course your question has raised a safety matter.  Keep in mind that when the locomotive is shoving cars around, a car can sneak up on you without you noticing, with the locomotive a long way away from where you are at.  If you must walk along the tracks for any reason, keep looking over your shoulder, because trouble can be right behind you without you hearing it.

Here's a safety star...

Answer 3

It's not like a car. You can't look at your rear view mirror and see the corner of the car. The engine can be several hundred feet from the car that it is trying to unload. Somebody is talking to the engineer on a radio saying "Ten feet forward, no, thirty feet in reverse." It's a trial and error process.

When you moved into your current place, did you look across the street at the factory?

Answer 4

I just knew you were bored and needed something to watch!LOL Just kidding!You got the right answer already from Txtj and Skidderback.

Answer 5

They can see you watching them. They know it annoys you so they do it on purpose.

Answer 6

It is called spotting an Industry.  The Conductor is usually at the rear of the train telling the Engineer which way to go and how many car lengths to travel.  When the train crew is dropping cars they sometimes have multiple tracks to spot.  This means they will shove part of the cars to one spot, set the hand brakes, uncouple from the cars and then move to the next spot for the others in their consist.  Good crews can usually hit the proper spot in one try.  

Essentially, multiple tracks and multiple car spots need multiple train movements.

Unloading crews also do precision spots but they start at one end of the train and proceed through the consist one car at a time until they are empty.

Your question makes the actions of the train crew sound like a standard local or yard crew which would make the first explanation correct.

Answer 7

Because a big rig delivers one trailer.  A freight train delivers a whole bunch at one time.  

Every one requires at best a back-and-forth move to spot it.  However the train is also taking away empties from yesterday, right?  So that's twice as many moves.  

Sometimes the way that the tracks are routed in the factory are inconvenient, and require even more back-and-forth moves to get anything done.

Truck driver, he just drops his load, and leaves.  No comparison.